Sony Computer Entertainment of America declined to testify at a Congressional hearing about the threat of data theft to American consumers, but will continue to work to answer Congressional questions, officials tell Kotaku.

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"Sony declined to testify because their internal investigation is still ongoing," an official in Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack's office told Kotaku this morning.

Congresswoman Mack and Congressman G. K. Butterfield wrote a letter to Sony Computer Entertainment of America, addressed to Kazuo Hirai, on April 29, several days after Sony detailed the breach of their Playstation Network by hackers.

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In the letter the two asked Hirai to answer a number of questions for the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade about the breach by May 6. That deadline was moved to today after Sony declined to testify at the hearing, which was already scheduled and not in reaction to the Sony breach.

Reached for comment this morning, Sony Computer Entertainment of America spokesman Patrick Seybold said that Sony is cooperating with the committee.

"Sony is cooperating with the request for answers to the Committee's questions, and in fact will be providing our responses in advance of the deadline," he wrote in an email to Kotaku. "We informed the committee that we could not appear as early as this Wednesday because of our ongoing intensive investigation and management of this criminal cyberattack."

Sony's security problems continue to mount, as Sony Online Entertainment reveals that the personal information of 24.6 million SOE accounts and more than 12,700 credit card numbers may have been compromised in the massive attack that brought down the PlayStation Network late last month. More »

A security breach in the Playstation Network by still unidentified hackers resulted in stolen personal information, Sony confirmed today.
Sony says while personal information was likely stolen they don't believe credit card numbers were and that they hope to have the Playstation Network service... More »

The Federal Bureau of Investigations today confirmed to Kotaku that it is looking into the security breach that brought the Playstation Network down and exposed millions of users' personal data to cybercriminals.
The FBI is joined by nearly two dozen state attorneys general and possibly the Federal... More »